


Feral

by psychicdreamsandangelwings



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-07 11:01:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4260918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychicdreamsandangelwings/pseuds/psychicdreamsandangelwings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I wouldn’t do that,” Carol warns her as she gathers up what she came to get and starts heading for the door. </p><p>“Why?” Tanya says, laughing dismissively. “How hard could it be to approach Daryl, I mean he doesn’t bite does he?”</p><p>“No,” Carol says, expertly shifting her lips into a sweet smile. “But his boyfriend does and believe me, you don't want to deal with a jealous Rick Grimes.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Girls

“What about Daryl?” Carol hears Tanya say to Sabrina as she walks into the communal pantry. She had come to get a few things for her next big meal and had hoped no one would be inside so she could gather what she needed in peace.

“Which one is he again?” Sabrina says, shifting her weight to one hip as she looks over at Tanya.

“The one with the crossbow, big arms, and nice ass,” Tanya says, setting aside her inventory sheet as she shifts her attention to Sabrina.

“Oh yeah, he’s definitely worth a second look,” Sabrina says, recognition dawning on her face. “Except he’s a little too… feral for my tastes.”

“I like ‘em like that,” Tanya says with a smirk. “Taming a loose cannon is like second nature to me, all he needs is a little love and guidance.

Carol hides a smirk behind her hand as she rifles through the food they have stored, not wanting the other two women to see her reaction. She’d need a hell of a lot more than a little love and guidance if she wanted to “tame” someone like Daryl, if you even could. He doesn’t exactly do well when people try to control him.

“I don’t know,” Sabrina says. “He seems like a lost cause, might as well move on to someone else.”

“Who? Glenn’s taken, Abraham has that weird thing going on with Rosita where they act like brother and sister one second and fuck the next, Eugene looks like someone dumped Joe Dirt into a bat of oil, and everyone else here is either too young or already with someone,” Tanya says. “The pickings are slim, I haven’t gotten laid in what seems like forever and Daryl looks like he’s the kind of man who knows what they’re doing in bed.”

“Taking a chance on him is a gamble,” Sabrina says. “You sure you really want to take that? I mean, what if he’s violent.”

Tanya shrugs nonchalantly. “I bet I’ve got a chance with him, who knows when his last relationship was and he’s probably desperate to take anyone.”

Carol tries to act like what the two woman our talking about doesn’t bother her but she can’t deny the anger starting to bubble up inside her. Daryl’s not some feral dog that needs to be trained to act more civilized and he certainly isn’t some desperate fool who’ll take any comfort he can get from anyone willing to give it to him. He's better than that.

She coughs and flexes her fingers, making sure the gesture is hidden, but otherwise acts like Sabrina and Tanya aren’t even there.

“Oh,” Tanya says excitedly, lips splitting into a big smile. “I hadn’t realized you’d come in Carol. What can you tell me about Daryl? He got a girlfriend?

“Daryl’s loyal and he loves his people with all his heart and he’s a damn good man,” Carol says, trying to keep the harshness out of her voice. She’s trying to act like a weak-willed woman who can’t shoot a gun, not someone who could kill the both of them quicker than they could say walker.

Carol thinks about what to say next. Daryl and Rick aren’t keeping their relationship a secret but they aren’t exactly ready for everyone to know what they are, especially not those here at Alexandria. “Not exactly,” Carol says, deciding that’s enough to keep Tanya from delving deeper into this conversation of theirs.

“Good, I think I’m gonna make a move on him. He just needs the right kind of attention from the right person.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Carol warns her as she gathers up what she came to get and starts heading for the door.

“Why?” Tanya says, laughing dismissively. “How hard could it be to approach Daryl, I mean he doesn’t bite does he?”

“No,” Carol says, expertly shifting her lips into a sweet smile. “But his boyfriend does and believe me, you don't want to deal with a jealous Rick Grimes.”

The look on Tanya’s face as she retreats is definitely worth the potential snag on her “nice lady” impersonation.


	2. Not Important

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've decided to continue this story and start a series of fics all surrounding various people's reactions to finding out about Rick and Daryl's relationship. It'll say complete but I'll be adding to it whenever I can.

"You did what?" Daryl asks, glaring at Carol. The two of them are sitting alone on the porch, just enjoying each other’s company. It's late, the air is hot and sticky and the sound of crickets chirping in front of them provides them with gentle background noise that helps to calm them down. If Daryl closes his eyes and concentrates it almost feels like he's back at the prison, the first place that had ever felt like home to him.

It’d been quiet for the last ten or so minutes they had been out there, no need for words when they have a bond as special as theirs is, but Carol had just dropped a bomb shell on him. Apparently she had told two Alexandrian residents about his and Rick’s relationship. By now he’s gotten used to the looks the other residents have been giving him, they still regard him with distrust and unease, but he’d been wondering why the side looks and whispers had increased as the day progressed. Now it all makes sense.

"I may or may not have told Tanya and Sabrina you and Rick are together," Carol says, picking at a hang nail on her right hand. He’d noticed she’d been doing that a lot lately, something she hadn’t done regularly since they were back at the quarry and she was still under her husband’s abusive thumb. She does it when she’s stressed and uncomfortable and her new found personality is definitely enough to make her uncomfortably stressed. "And they may have told one, maybe twelve or twenty-two others. It's kind of hard to keep track of everyone in a place like this."

Carol’s dressed in nice khakis and a ruffly blue blouse that makes her look all kinds of strange. Her short hair is untangled and styled in a way he’s never seen before and he hates the entire getup. It’s not her, hasn’t been her for a while, and he doesn’t like the fact that she’s got to be someone she isn’t as a safety precaution. She looks ridiculous and though Daryl understands what she's trying to accomplish he's still not used to her "helpless woman" act.

"Why would you do that?" Daryl says, taking a deep breath as he tries his hardest not to glare at Carol. It's not like he's ashamed of his relationship with Rick, for fuck's sake he's like a walking sex machine and definitely way out of Daryl’s league, but he can't say he wanted the people here to find out about their relationship.

These people have been isolated, haven't experienced a world where race and sexual orientation don’t matter, and who knows what twisted views left over from their ruined reality they may have. He can handle everyone's criticism and dirty looks, Daryl’s been doing that since the day he was born and people’s opinions have never bothered him, but he's not going to be able to hold his tongue if these bastards decide they're going to talk shit to Carl or Rick.

"I didn't mean to!" Carol says, deciding she's picked enough at her bleeding fingernail, and turns to focus on Daryl. "Tanya was talking about how she wanted to seduce you-"

"She what!" Daryl says and Carol ignores his interjection with a wave of her hand.

"And how she loves taming feral men-"

"So now I'm feral?" Daryl interrupts again but Carol ignores him a cold look and continues like he hadn't said anything at all.

"And how you were just a loner who needed the right attention from the right person, just a little love and affection. I had to defend my pookie." Carol’s teasing him now, trying to lighten the mood. She no doubt picked up on his anxiety, even though Daryl knows for a fact he’s got it expertly pushed down, and decided to try and dispel it as much as possible.

Daryl glares and Carol does nothing but smirk at him. He wants to be mad at her, he really does, but he can’t seem to gather the energy to do so. “These women are going to be the death of me," Daryl says through gritted teeth. "What makes them think I'm even available?"

"I believe she said you'd be desperate to take anyone," Carol says, barely concealing the anger she feels for Tanya right now, “and didn’t even factor in the fact that you may already be taken.”

"So what?" Daryl says, starting to get agitated. He knows he’s a loner who can hardly hold a conversation for longer than five minutes but that doesn’t mean he’s desperate for a relationship. He’s perfectly happy with what he has going on with Rick and even if they weren’t together he wouldn’t just jump into a relationship with some girl he’s never even met. "She thinks I'm some cross-bow wielding loner with no friends who's desperate for any sort of attention?"

Carol frowns. “More or less. But,” Carol says, hiding a smile behind her hand. “She did say you have big arms and a nice ass, at least she knows just how desirable you actually are.”

"Who has a nice ass and big arms?" Rick says as he walks out of the house they all share.

"Nothing," Carol and Daryl say at the same time. Rick’ll find out soon enough that this place knows about their relationship, there’s no need to start any fighting between the groups because Rick figures out how.

"Don't worry about it," Daryl says, reaching out to pull Rick down next to him. It's not like they have anything to hide anyway. "They're not important."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this at work and didn't proofread it as much as I should have so hopefully it's not too horrible.
> 
> Lots of people have asked me if there's anywhere they can send my prompts/contact me. I have a tumblr but I'm never on so I've decided to give out my twitter. There you can send me prompts, ask questions, or just chat with me about whatever interests you.
> 
> You can find me on twitter here: [@assbuttrickyl](https://twitter.com/assbuttrickyl)


End file.
